The Rolling Stones Hit the Recording Studio -- Now What?

Mick Jagger tweets about the iconic band's recording session in Paris, but reports differ about exactly what they're working on -- and what comes next.

It’s been a (sorta) busy summer for The Rolling Stones.

First there was an update on the iconic Lips and Tongue logo. Then there was the photo snapped outside the Marquee Club in London, where The Stones played their first show in 1962. And last week, Mick Jagger tweeted a photo of himself in a Paris studio, two days after the band was photographed leaving the studio.

Yes, a half-century into their career and after numerous reports of starts and false starts, it appears that The Stones are indeed making new music.

Or maybe not. Now reports have surfaced that the band is merely remastering old songs for inclusion on a 50th anniversary compilation record due in the fall. The Stones’ longtime archivist Nico Zentgraf says the group was in the studio with American producer Don Was, who has worked on a half-dozen of their albums since 1994’s Voodoo Lounge.

Zentgraf added that the core quartet -- Jagger, 69; Keith Richards, 68; Charlie Watts, 71; and Ronnie Wood, 65 -- were backed by keyboardist Chuck Leavell and bassist Darryl Jones, who have collaborated with the Stones for 30 and 20 years, respectively.

So … now what? Will there be an entire studio album? Maybe just a couple of new tracks? Some shows? A full tour? Jagger told the Evening Standard in July that The Stones would play live “in the autumn.” It would be their first concerts in five years.

“We've been hanging out together, seeing quite a bit of each other,” he told the paper, “and we want to do some gigs.”

Jagger is coming off hosting and performing on the season finale of Saturday Night Live in May. The band had been tipped to make an appearance during the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympics last month, but it didn’t happen.

In other Stones-related news, the New York Film Festival – which also happens to be celebrating its 50th anniversary – said Monday that it will host the world premiere of the concert film The Rolling Stones: Charlie Is My Darling – Ireland 1965 on Sept. 29. Portions of the film, which chronicles the group’s trip to Ireland shortly after “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” topped charts around the world, have leaked out over the decades, but this will be the first time it screens in its entirety.

While we wait for new stuff from The Stones, check out Mick and the boys playing "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" before an estimated crowd of 1.5 million (!) in Rio de Janeiro in 2006.